Two mother carp fish have died again at the natural fish breeding center in Halda. The Upazila Fisheries Department said that the two mother fish that floated in the low tide water are Katla. The two fish have been taken to the Halda Research and Laboratory for autopsy.
River volunteers and naval police members rescued the two fish from the river in Ramdas Munshirhat area of Uttar Madarsha Union in Hathazari, Chittagong on Sunday evening. The rescuers said that each of the recovered fish weighed 12 to 15 kg.
Earlier, on May 15, a dead mother mrigel weighing 10 kg was recovered from the Azimer Ghat area of West Gujra Union of Raojan. The Department of Fisheries said that the stomach of the fish was full of eggs. The body of the recovered fish had sharp injury marks. In addition, volunteers recovered another dead mother katla fish weighing 5 kg from the same place on May 4. In addition, six large mother fish and three dolphins were found dead floating in the water in 12 days in June and July last year.
Raozan Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Alamgir Hossain told Prothom Alo that the two fish have been rescued and taken to the lab. Initially, it is believed that the two mother fish died due to lack of oxygen due to pollution. This time, after Eid-ul-Adha, the skins were thrown into the Terpali canal of Fatikchhari. In addition, the sewage from the tannery is flowing into the river through the Kathalia canal. Due to this, the level of pollution in the river has increased.
Talking to the Department of Fisheries and Haldar volunteers, it has been learned that for quite some time, dead mother fish have been seen floating in the river one after another. However, it is not possible to rescue all the mother fish. Because, volunteers are not always there. Often, dead fish are washed away by the tide. Closed circuit cameras (CCTV) have been installed across 10 kilometers to protect the mother fish and biodiversity of Haldar. In addition, there is a naval police outpost in the Ram Das Munshirhat section of the river in Hathazari. However, even then, incidents of mother fish deaths are occurring. Local people said that due to the lack of activity of the naval police, various illegal activities including fishing nets and fishing are going on in the river.
When asked about this, Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Sub-Inspector (SI) of Halda Naval Police Outpost in Ramdash Munshirhat of Uttar Madarsha Union of Hathazari, told Prothom Alo that the upazila administration and Fisheries Department conduct raids several times a week. They provide security assistance. If any illegal activities are seen in the CCTV footage, they enter the river. However, to keep Halda 100% safe, the fuel allocation for speedboats and manpower need to be increased.
Meanwhile, mother fish laid eggs in Halda in two phases on May 27 and 30. This time, the collectors collected a total of 14,000 kg of eggs. River researchers are concerned about the bad news of mother fish dying in the river. They say that the death of mother fish one after another like last year is a concern. Because, each mother fish egg in Halda has the potential to produce fish worth crores of taka every year.
River researcher and chairman of the Zoology Department of Chittagong University, Manjurul Kibria, told Prothom Alo that the two fish have been rescued and brought to the Halda Research and Laboratory of Chittagong University. The cause of death of the two mother fish will be known after the autopsy.
Source: Prothom Alo
